These Top Tech Companies Continue to Call Boston Home

May 14, 2018

Recently, Amazon announced its intention to hire 2,000 employees for its new facility in Seaport Square, which will focus on developing its Alexa voice-activated technology. This news has rekindled speculation that Greater Boston could be selected as the location for Amazon’s second headquarters, a search that was announced with great fanfare in September 2017. (Earlier this year, Boston and Somerville were listed among 20 finalists for the massive campus, with Amazon officials visiting the region several weeks ago to scout locations.)

Amazon’s enhanced presence in Greater Boston – and the possibility it will choose our region as its HQ2 – marks the latest high profile tech company to make a significant investment in the city, sometimes referred to as the east coast Silicon Valley.

Here are several of the world’s top technology companies that have recently sought to expand in and around Boston:

Spotify

Last month, the music streaming giant Spotify announced it has leased 73,891 square feet, and several floors, inside Center Plaza, the nine-story office and retail building in Government Center, across from City Hall. The deal, which includes an 11-year lease, marks a significant expansion for the music streaming company, which currently has a location in Somerville’s Davis Square. It’s also the company’s latest Boston-centric news; as part of the lead-up to this year’s Boston Marathon, Spotify announced a partnership with race sponsor John Hancock, in which the company supplied personalized music and playlists while the John Hancock Elite Athlete Team provided motivational tips for runners.

Facebook

Last summer, Facebook announced plans to open a new office in Kendall Square in 2018 as well as its commitment to hiring more than 500 employees. The new office — located on the top three floors of 100 Binney Street—will host a “Connectivity Lab” focused on delivering technology and web access to people currently without Internet service. Several years ago, Facebook launched its first Boston office, eventually growing to roughly 100 employees. Of course, the decision to locate in Cambridge is a bit of a homecoming: Mark Zuckerberg famously founded Facebook in his Harvard dorm.

Google

Back in 2003, Google opened a small Boston sales office before purchasing Android and moving to Cambridge in 2006. Eleven years later, the company opened a 300,000-square-foot, 12-floor campus at Boston Properties’ Kendall Center and soon expanded, adding another 50,000 square feet of space. Today, Google Cambridge is based in three adjacent buildings and is the fourth-largest Google site in the country, housing more than 800 employees. And the campus continues to grow: initially focused on search and travel products, Google announced last summer it was launching an artificial intelligence initiative on the site.

DraftKings

With a move to Back Bay next year, DraftKings will double the size of its Boston headquarters. The daily fantasy sports site will occupy 105,000 square feet across a single floor at 500 Boylston St. and 222 Berkeley St. Previously, this space was home to publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The company currently has about 350 Boston-based employees, with plans to hire an additional 200 workers later this year.

DraftKings first moved into 125 Summer Street in Downtown Crossing in 2014 before expanding to a 46,000 square feet, three-floor space.

Verizon subsidiary, Oath

Earlier this month, The Hub on Causeway’s 31-floor office tower received design approval from the Boston Civic Design Commission. The office building’s anchor tenant will likely be Oath Inc., Verizon’s new digital-media subsidiary. Currently, negotiations are underway for Oath to lease at least 300,000 square feet at the tower, which would meet the needs of more than 2,000 employees.

Oath serves as the umbrella company of Verizon’s digital content subdivisions, including AOL and Yahoo.

Bose

Based in Framingham, the headphone and audio equipment company Bose announced in November 2017 that it will lease 98,000 square feet at the Boston Landing campus in Brighton, beginning this summer. Overlooking the Boston Bruins Warrior Ice Arena, Bose – the fifth-largest private company in Massachusetts with nearly 2,400 employees – joins the likes of New Balance in the newly established Boston Landing, located near public transportation as well as the Mass Pike.